| Ruby | |
| Cover: | Ruby single.jpg |
| Border: | yes |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | Kaiser Chiefs |
| Album: | Yours Truly, Angry Mob |
| B-Side: |
|
| Released: | 29 January 2007 |
| Genre: | Power pop[1] |
| Length: | 3:23 |
| Label: | |
| Producer: | Stephen Street |
| Prev Title: | Modern Way |
| Prev Year: | 2005 |
| Next Title: | Everything Is Average Nowadays |
| Next Year: | 2007 |
"Ruby" is a song by English indie rock band Kaiser Chiefs. It was released in the United Kingdom on 5 February 2007 as the lead single from their second studio album, Yours Truly, Angry Mob (2007). It became the band's first British number-one single on 25 February 2007 and ended 2007 as the year's 10th-biggest-selling single in the UK, with total sales of 313,765.[2] As of September 2016, it has sold over 600,000 copies in the UK as stated by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI). "Ruby" was voted number 13 on the Triple J Hottest 100 of 2007, Australia's largest annual music poll.[3]
A video single of the song was released in the United States at Best Buy stores on 13 March 2007, two weeks before the album was released there, and featured a live version of "Everything Is Average Nowadays" and the B-side "Admire You" (released on the UK 7-inch version).[4]
Speaking about the song lead singer Ricky Wilson said that Ruby "is super cool, totally unapproachable" and that "there was a girl like that at school".[5] Andrew White said, "[I]t's not really about anyone" and "if you know someone called Ruby, it's about them".[6] In a 2022 TikTok video, Nick Hodgson revealed that Ruby was his family pet, a black Labrador.[7]
The promo for "Ruby" was directed by Swedish production company Stylewar, who also produced the 2005 video for "I Predict a Riot", and features the band performing in a desert landscape whilst a CGI metropolis-like miniature city builds around them. The video was scheduled to be shown on Channel 4 at 11:35 p.m. on 15 January 2007 but was pulled from the schedules for unknown reasons. The video finally premiered on the official Kaiser Chiefs website four days later.
A. "Ruby"
B. "Admire You"
| Chart (2007) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Digital Tracks (ARIA)[12] | 35 |
| Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)[13] | 1 |
| Poland (LP3)[14] | 1 |
| Russia Airplay (TopHit) | 178 |
| Turkey (Billboard Türkiye)[15] | 18 |
| Ukraine Airplay (TopHit) | 120 |
| Chart (2007) | Position | |
|---|---|---|
| Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[16] | 45 | |
| Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[17] | 10 | |
| Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)[18] | 25 | |
| Germany (Official German Charts)[19] | 46 | |
| Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[20] | 26 | |
| Netherlands (Single Top 100)[21] | 51 | |
| Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[22] | 28 | |
| UK Singles (OCC)[23] | 10 |
| Region | Date | Format(s) | Label(s) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | 29 January 2007 | Modern rock radio | Universal Motown | [25] | |
| United Kingdom | 5 February 2007 | Digital download | |||
| 19 February 2007 | [26] | ||||
| United States | 22 May 2007 | Contemporary hit radio | Universal Motown | [27] |
As part of the BBC Electric Proms the song was performed by the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain.[28] On 19 January 2011, Italian band Elio e le Storie Tese played a cover version of the song at the nationwide TV-show Parla con Me, with lyrics changed into a satiric reference to the Rubygate sex scandal, which then Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi had just been involved with.[29]